The Lower Part Of Heaven
by Kia Vail-Kagami
Summary: My take on how Raziel's human life could have been, starting with his chilhood. Who would have thought - another chapter!
1. A safe place

This is my take on how Raziel's human life might have been, starting with his early childhood. It's probably been done before, but I just had an idea once and had to write it down. So here it is.

Unfortunately I'm absolutely horrible with this kind of story and my English isn't good enough for anything with a plot. I hope it doesn't such too much. T_T

The Lower Part Of Heaven 

Chapter I: A safe place

By Kia

"Not anywhere around here!"

"But they already saw them in the eastern mountains, only two day's walk away from here. They killed one of Arn's friends."

"But this village is a safe place. That's why I came here in the first place." Grum nipped at his glass thoughtfully. "Besides, the vampires aren't so much of a problem in this part of Nosgoth."

"Yet."

"Okay, so what? They're still a minority, if I may say so, and with all those vampire hunters around they'll soon be entirely gone."

"Yeah, that's what they say for a hundred years already. But not even those Sarafan guys could make them disappear completely. Come on, join our hunting troop, we still need more men."

Grum laughed softly. "Listen, my friend, I can understand that you want to get rid of them, and that Arn wants to revenge his friend and such, but, believe me, this _is_ a safe place. The river keeps them away, as well as the unpredictable weather with those heavy rainfalls. And if that wasn't enough yet…" He grinned at his old friend, "You smell so bad that they'd rather die than come closer."

His opposite opened his mouth for a probably quite impolite answer but Grum quickly continued talking, before his friend could throw some words at him he'd rather not wanted his little son to learn who was sitting a few steps away on the floor of the bar, playing with a cat. "I haven't actually seen one in ages. And I came here to find a safe place for my children to grow up, not to throw my life away and leave them alone by forcingly searching for trouble."

It wasn't the first time they had this talk, but the outcome was always the same. Grum stood up from his chair and paid for his beer, knowing that it was useless and that he was late for dinner.

Until about two years ago he and his family had lived in a small town close to the swamp, but after their first child was born they decided to move to a safer place. Now his wife was pregnant for the second time and his son had just gotten three years old without having ever seen a vampire. Gurm wanted it so stay like this.

"By the way, there are probably already more vampire hunters running though the land than there are vampires," he added with a slight smile. "You don't want them to get bored, do you?"

His friend only grunted in return and Grum walked over to his son, a soft smile on his face.

"Come on, Raziel," he said and picked the boy up. "Mama's waiting."

Little Raziel giggled and tried to get out of his fathers strong arms.

"Can I keep the kitty?" he asked.

"No, we don't have room for a kitty."

"Oh, please! Pretty, pretty please?"

"No, no, our family is growing, forgot?" With his child in his arms Grum stepped out of the bar and into the golden rays of the evening sun. The village lay calm and peaceful before them.

***

To their small house it was a rather long way, just to the opposite end of the village.

Raziel yawned and snuggled deeper into his fathers embrace. His mother had told him to never leave the house after dark but here, in his fathers arms, he felt save. He knew that there were evil and dangerous creatures somewhere in the world, everyone was talking about them, but he had never seen one and didn't care.

***

Meriah frowned as she heard someone enter the house.

"You are late," she scolded and went to greet her husband. She was a kind and loving woman who never managed to stay angry for long, but at last she could pretend.

"I met Kurin at the bar," Grum explained. "We had a little talk."

"I see." Meriah walked over to him to take her son out of his arms. "Come on, little one, time so sleep," she said softly and carried the already asleep boy to his bed.

Afterwards she carried her pregnant body back to the old couch and her husband who was sitting in it.

"He asked you again to join his vampire hunt, didn't he?" It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

"And?"

"I won't."

Silence. Then Meriah smiled and leaned over to place a kiss onto his lips.

"Promise me you never will. I need you to take care of your family."

"I will do so." Grum smiled back at her and tenderly caressed her round form. "Don't worry. The vampires are little more than a legend here and our children will probably grow up without ever seeing one."

He softly kissed her cheek and she knew that he, like herself, was hoping that is was true.

-tbc-

June 28, 2003

Well, I hope it wasn't too bad. Please tell me what you think about it.

The next part will be a bit longer.


	2. Dark clouds

Here's the next part. Not exactly how I had planned it, but almost…

Well, at least it's indeed longer than the last one. (Not that that would be very hard, anyway…^^) It takes place about three years after the first chapter.

Chapter II: Dark Clouds

By Kia

The sky was dark and grey. It didn't rain yet, but far off in the distance the low growling of thunder could be heard. The air was thick, warm and still.

Meriah frowned as she looked out of the window once again. She didn't want to admit it but she _was_ worried. Her children had left to play outside some time ago and though she had told them not to go too far away, though they had promised they would always return when the sky started to darken like this they had not returned yet.

Once again the young woman told herself that there was no reason to worry. Raziel always took his job as a big brother quite serious, he would watch over his little sister. They probably only lost track of time and would come running back by any second.

But then again, Raziel also was only six years old...

A hand touched her shoulder, making her jump.

"Don't worry!" Gurm smiled reassuringly at her. She hadn't even noticed his presence. "I'll go search for them if you want me to. It won't take long."

Meriah closed her eyes and leaned against him, but not even his strong arms could make the bad feeling go away that had taken her when she first had noticed the dark clouds far away at the horizon.

"Please," she whispered.

A quick kiss was placed on her cheek. Gurm looked at her and didn't seem concerned at all.

"We'll be right back!" he promised, and left.

***

"Analie, we _have_ to go home!" Raziel sighed as his little sister ran off again to hide inside a bush. She didn't want to go home yet, not when playing outside was so much more fun.

Contrary to so many other children her age she wasn't scared of thunder and lightning but enjoyed them greatly.

Raziel didn't enjoy it at all. He felt nervous and uneasy  because of the nearing thunder, the darkness of the sky and the terrifying sureality that lay in the tensed calmness of the world before the storm. If he had been alone, without his little sister to get in danger, he surely would have enjoyed it as well, but he wasn't alone, and he didn't. Other than Analie he knew that lightnings were dangerous, his parents had told him so. They should always return home at the quietest growling of thunder his mother had ordered and the memory of her words made him even more nervous. Because he knew that she would get angry and he knew that it was dangerous and he wanted to protect his sister and she didn't let him!

"Analie, please come out there," he called into the bush. A tiny voice answered:

"But, Razi! The squizzy lights are so cool! I want to see them! Please!"

"You can see them through the window as well, you know that!"

"But! It's not the same!"

Raziel sighed. He knew he could have taken the little girl out of her hideout by force but then the sharp thorns of the bush could have hurt her and he didn't want that.

New tactic.

"Do you want Mama to cry, Analie? Because, if you don't come home with me, she'll certainly do so."

Silence.

"Really?"

"Yes, believe me!"

For two seconds nothing happened. Then the bush started to rustle and a little girl crawled out of it. She got to her feet and after another second of hesitation she took her brothers offered hand.

"Okay. Let's go then, Razi."

Raziel breathed an unheard sigh of relief. He ruffled Analie's brown hair to show that he wasn't angry and quickly lead her around the rocks lying around on the barren fields that were their playground and to the path that lead back home.

Another thunder ripped through the silence of the air. Raziel stopped dead in his steps.

Between the rocks stood a person. A tall man with longish black hair and worn out clothes. He stood with his back half turned to them, staring at the dark sky though narrowed yellow eyes. Instead of normal hands he had large, three-fingered claws.

A vampire.

Although Raziel had never before seen one he had heard enough about them to recognise it at once. Not good.

Yet, he found himself unable to turn his eyes from the creature.

From her place behind him Analie couldn't see anything of it, but she could tell that something was wrong.

"What, Razi?" she whispered.

Raziel gave her a sign to be quiet. She tried to look around him but he quickly shoved her backwards and kneeled down behind the nearest rock.

Apparently the vampire hadn't seen them yet, so maybe they had a slight chance of getting away alive. And who knew, maybe it just wasn't hungry…

On the other hand, wasn't it so that they simply killed every human that crossed their path?

For a moment Raziel considered hiding somewhere between the rocks and hope it would just go away. With one hand he covered Analie's mouth while he carefully peeked abound the stone again to see what the creature was doing.

The vampire still stood where it was before but it now moved, turned around slowly, a strange expression on his in a perverted way human face. Despite his fear Raziel watched in fascination how the monster in human disguise moved and moved, until it was facing their direction.

It stopped.

The air growled again, louder now.

Even though Raziel was sure that it could not see them in the their spot between the rocks the creature seemed to stare directly at him.

And them it began to walk.

"Oh, shit!" he whispered.

***

The sky was black now – just plain black with dark clouds, occasionally lit up by lightning. The thunder followed shortly after, very loud now, very close.

Still there was no rain. Meriah sighed in forced calmness and, somehow, she wished it would finally start. If it started to rain now her children would get wet and maybe they would catch a cold, but at least the silence would be broken and all of the world would seem a little less threatening, a little more real. Maybe it would make her wake up from this nightmare.

Meriah sighed once more, looked out of the window and waited.

***

Raziel was hoping for rain too. Rain was water and water was bad for vampires, wasn't it? So then the creature would disappear or die, or whatever, and they could go home.

But as heavy with rain as the clouds above them were, the water didn't come down and their running feet only met dusty, dry earth.

Then it hit him! Water!

"Analie," he gasped. "Run to the river!"

"I can't…" the little girl he was dragging along by the hand answered and the tears in her voice told him that she was scared to death.

God, _he_ was scared to death! A quick glance over his shoulder: The vampire was nowhere to be seen. But he could feel that it was still there, behind them.

In spite of his fears the boy risked a stop to pick up his exhausted sister. She clung to him for dear life, slowing him down even more.

But the river was so close already, Raziel could hear it, smell it, and once they passed the large, dirty brown rocks up there he knew he would see it, running through the dusty landscape, four or five meters below.

When they reached the place they had so often played at the boy simply held his sister even closer and jumped, fell toward the water with the first heavy drops of rain that finally found their way down to earth.

The world spun and for a second Raziel thought he saw something move between the rocks above them. The everything disappeared and was replaced by the wet, suffocating safety of water.

***

Time passed. The rain had finally started but it didn't help at all, only made her nervous even more when neither her children nor her husband had returned. Suddenly Meriah wished Grum would be with her, or she would be with him, searching her kids herself. But she could not leave now, no, she had to stay home in case they returned. So she could only wait.

Half an hour after the first drops of rain had hit the roof of the house, a hard knock on the door tore her out of her thoughts. Meriah run to the door, relieved and worried at the same time. When she opened it she saw Grum's friend Kurin out there, wet with rain. In his arms he carried her crying daughter, her son standing behind him, looking down to the ground as if ashamed.

All she was told for now was that Kurin had fished the kids out of the river into which they had jumped after meeting a creature that maybe, probably, by the look of it could have, eventually, been a vampire. Those words made Meriah shiver but she managed to stay calm and push the possible consequences out of her thoughts. For now she was just happy to have her children back, about everything else she could worry once her husband was back to support her.

Kurin left shortly after, to find Grum and tell him that his children were back home. When they returned they should talk about this incident and decide what to do, he had said when he left. He had done it with this 'I-could-have-told-you-so' look Meriah had always secretly feared she'd see someday.

And still the bad feeling wouldn't leave. She had thought that it would disappear once Raziel and Analie were back safe and though the relieve of seeing them had covered it up at first it came back every time her eyes met the closed door.

Maybe it was just because of the storm, and the thunder. Maybe it was just because she already knew that nothing would ever be again like it was before.

Maybe she was simply scared of the future.

She tried to distract herself by getting her children dry and keeping Raziel from running out to search for his father. Hours later she put Analie to bed and after her son slept as well she finally started to cry.

The door remained closed the entire night.

-tbc-

July 04, 2003

Yay, finished on my 20th bithday! ^^ Congratulations, me! ^_^


	3. The day before

This chapter is by no means important. It was meant to be important, but now it got too long generally and in the end it's only the prelude to the important chapter, which would be the next one… I hope… ^^

So I won't blame you if you just skip this one… Though I kind of enjoy writing such meaningless parts. Especially since I'm not good at writing long stories that have a plot. ^^

I wished my English would be better… T_T

Chapter III : The day before 

By Kia

The sky was clear, the air mild. Moonlight printed the whole world in silver. The stars smiled gently down from heaven and Analie smiled back as she carefully climbed across the roof of her house and sat down on her favourite spot.

"Hi, Papa!", she said to the stars. The stars didn't answer.

Unimpressed, the girl continued.

"I'm sorry I didn't talk to you for so long, but I was sooo busy with helping mama and the others on the fields. We found potatoes this year that were _this_ big!" She stretched her arms as wide as possible, hoping that he would get the message. "But I was thinking of you a lot. With you, we could have done this so much faster!"

Analie looked up to the shining stars and tried to remember the face of the man she had seen for the last time when she was three years old. When he hadn't returned that day the whole village went searching for him, but they still needed two days to find his corpse, utterly drained of blood. He was now buried in the small graveyard outside the village, under a tree.

Analie had needed weeks and months to finally understand that he wasn't going to come home, and then she had started talking to him at night. Somehow, like this she felt that he was still with them, even after all this time. "Even though she couldn't remember his face anymore…

"I shall say 'Hi' from Razi to you.", she continued. "And from Mama too, I'm sure, though I haven't asked her. She doesn't like talking about you, you know." Noticing that her words could be easily misunderstood the girl shook her head quickly. "But, I'm sure that is only because she thinks about you so much.. She still misses you a lot. You miss us too, don't you?"

Silence. Analie's heart sank a bit. "I wished you could tell me."

A sad smile was shown on her face and soon after replaced by a happy one.

"I'm eight years old now, did you know that? Since yesterday. Razi's eleven. And mean! Do you know how I found this wonderful place here?" Her hand the dry wood of the roof she was sitting on. " I always saw Razi climbing around on the roofs though Mama doesn't like it. But he would never ever tell me how to get up here. Said it was too dangerous for a little girl and such!" She pouted. "So I went and found out all by myself! Ain't I smart?" She smiled at the stars broadly. "And tomorrow the whole village will have a big festival, to celebrate the good harvest this year. That means we won't have any work to do during the day. And I can stay up aaaalll night!" Carefully she got to her feet again. "I'll tell you about it tomorrow night, I promise!", she said with one last glance at the stars, and climbed back to her window to return to her bed before anyone noticed her absence.

***

Just downstairs and five hours later Meriah roamed through the kitchen, washing the tomatoes, cutting the carrots and wondering what the hell her son had tome to her kitchen knife before she decided that she probably didn't want to know.

Luckily the harvest had been good this year, unlike the one five years ago, when it was too dry and everything had died, so the vegetables and the grain were quite cheap now. Only the meat was still expensive because most of it had to be exported from other villages, but they didn't need much, so that wasn't a problem at all.

Not that could have afforded much. Meriah always helped out in the larger shop down the street and during the harvest she worked on the fields like everyone else, but all in all she hardly earned enough to lead a more r less decent life with her children.

In fact, she thought as she watched her son come down the stairs, Raziel could need a new shirt sooner or later.

"Good morning, dear!" she said and turned her attention back to the carrots before the knife she was using decided that copping fingers was nice too. "Did you sleep well?"

"More or less.", Raziel answered. He picked p an apple from the basket on the table, decided to call it breakfast and eat it.

"Is your sister up already?"

"Don't think so. I tried to wake her up but she wasn't too enthusiastic about moving."

Well, that wasn't exactly a surprise. Analie had never been a morning person. Pretty much like her mother, but Meriah herself had learned to handle it after… it became necessary.

"Maybe she just didn't get enough sleep last night…" Raziel added with a grin but apparently didn't feel the need to explain his words.

"Well, since there's no school today I'll let her sleep in a little. And you…" Meriah handed her son an empty can and a few coins. "…go to Tar's place and buy some milk. I used everything for Analie's birthday cake yesterday."

Raziel rolled his eyes. "That's what you get for standing up in time!", he grumbled before he put on his shoes.

His mother watched him through the window as he left. He _really_ needed a new shirt one of these days. And a new haircut, but that was something he really hated. It was nearly impossible to make him cut his hair that by this time almost fell to his shoulders.

It was the colour of his hair, and nothing else. All the years that passed  the young woman had hoped that at least one of her children would turn out to look like their deceased father. But despite having Grum's black hair and his dark eyes Raziel's face resembled more her own. And he was too skinny and too small, even for his age, whereas his father had been tall and strong. Analie, on the other hand, looked more and more like her grandmother each day. If her hair continued to lighten up like that she'd soon be as fair as Meriah's mother had been. So at least her daughter resembled a person she had loves once, and lost. Sometimes it made the woman  feel that like this, at least one of her loves ones lived on in their descendants.

Meriah sighed sadly over this thoughts and continued to cut her vegetables.

***

In all its history the village of Aukrug never had more than two-hundred inhabitants. It was getting even less now, because most of the young people left to the bigger cities. Aukrug was too small, too far off, and it was hard to find work here, especially if one wasn't a fan of grain and potatoes.

So for the lack of children the school Analie and Raziel visited wasn't exactly a school but a table, with six or seven kids sitting around it and an old man trying to tech them general things he thought they had to know.

Raziel had his own opinion concerning these general things but after some bad experiences with their 'teachers' temper he had learned to keep them to himself – most of the time.

The other kids were all fourteen and above and would leave school soon and after than probably the village, leaving only him and his sister for they were the youngest. And after that Analie would soon be all alone there, if old geezer Hane didn't decide even sooner that only two 'hopeless cases' wouldn't be worth his time. Then they would stay stupid forever. Oh, what a pity!

Still the small size of their village made Raziel wonder. Because if it was so small, how could every way be so long? When he was little he had learned very soon that no matter where in Aukrug he was, his house was always at the other end of it. Even, it seemed, when he was at their neighbours place.

And the can for the milk wasn't exactly unheavy as well. Well, actually it was, but it wouldn't be, once the milk was in it.

The only place to get milk here was tar's bar – at the other end of the village. Tar, the owner, had come here from another village nearby that went by the name of Kropp after he got married for the second time. Kropp had about twice as much inhabitants as Aukrug and most of them were cows. So one day Tar had taken his personal army of cows and his old family and moved to his new wife's hometown. Those animals always seemed a bid displaced here, especially since there was hardly any grass to eat for them but somehow everyone got used to them. Even when their fence was broken again and they took a short walk around the corner in search for any tasty flowers or vegetables in the gardens - not that there would have been much. They never even got close to Raziel's house anyway. Probably thought it was too far away…

***

Of course the bar was almost empty at this time of the day. Tar himself was sitting on a table, quietly talking to Kurin, an old friend of Raziel's father. The sight made him remember his sisters nightly talks to him and he sighed sadly as he entered the room.

Words of conversation reached Raziel's ear and caught his attention. Apparently neither of the two men had yet taken notice of his presence and so he stayed silent and hoped they wouldn't look in his direction for they had adopted the bad habit of changing the topic once he came in sight.

***

"Arn said he saw it himself when he was there."

"The blue thing?" Tar smirked. Arn said a lot on a long day.

"Yepp, complete with wings and all.", Kurin replied.

"Well, then Arn can be happy – unlike me – that be made it back alive and safe, huh?" Tar didn't even try to hide his sarcasm and Kurin who knew of the barman's dislike of his friend only chuckled. Then Tar fell silent because he had looked up and seen Grum's boy beside the door.

"Hey, Raziel!", he called. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Just came in.", the boy answered and came over to the table. Kurin got up.

"Well, I have to leave, anyway.", he explained. "Raz, how's your mother doing?"

Raziel shrugged. "She's okay."

"That's good to know. Say 'Hi' to her from me, would you?"

Tar let out an unheard sigh as he watched Kurin more or less flee from the bar. Though he never said so and though it was utterly stupid he was sure the Kurin somehow felt responsible for the death of Meriah's husband, as silly as that would be.

"What were you talking about?", Raziel asked once Kurin was gone.

Tar gave him a look.

"You've been listening again, huh?" He shook his head. "Just about some strange creature eating people in Uschtenheim."

"Uschtenheim?" Raziel frowned, thinking. "Where's that?"

"In the eastern mountains", Tar replied and added: "Too far away to be any concern of ours. What can I do for you?"

Raziel's face showed all too clearly what he thought of this sudden change of topic but instead of complaining he simply placed his large can on the table.

"Milk", he said.

***

"How's school doing?" Tar asked once he returned with the milk. Raziel smirked.

"It didn't burn down, sadly.", he replied, making Tar laugh softly.

"Your sister just turned eight yesterday, didn't she?" Raziel nodded. "You know, I thought this village would finally get some new kids last year, when my oldest daughter got pregnant, but…"

"…But like every pregnant woman she moved away." Raziel completed the sentence. "It seems my parents really were the only ones that actually came here when they got a family."

Tar sighed. "Things were different then."

But Raziel knew that himself so Tar decided to avoid talking about it. For many years the only reason that made some people move to such small, distend villages was the notable lack of vampires here. And that reason became worthless once the first man had become a victim of those some years ago, even though they never saw another vampire even close to this place after that.

"The bigger towns are just more attractive to the young people, I guess.", Tar finally said.

Raziel nodded. "Then Analie will stay the youngest here forever." He handed the elderly man the money. "Unless she leaves as well, that is."

"Or she waits until your children are born.", Tar teased.

Raziel grimaced. "Never!" he said matter-of-factly. The barman only grinned.

Change of topic:

"Will you come to the festival tonight?"

"Who wouldn't?" Tar answered. "After all, good old Meggie had to die for it. My wife will make her a very tasty meal, don't you think?"

He grinned even more when he saw Raziel narrow his eyes in suspicion.

"Meggie's one of your cows, right?"

"Of course, what did you think?"

"Just wanted to make sure…"

***

Meriah looked up from the book she was reading when her son re-entered the house.

"What took you so long?" she wanted to know.

"The way!", Raziel snorted. His mother sighed and his sister finally came down the stairs.

"I met Kurin, by the way." Raziel added when he handed his mother the can. "Shall say 'hi'."

"Oh." Meriah fell silent for a second. "well, thank you. How's he doing?"

"Just fine.", Raziel replied. "Tar's fine too, only poor Meggie isn't feeling so well, being dead and all." He grinned. "Tar slaughtered her yesterday, you know, so we can eat her tonight."

"Iie!", Analie said disgusted. "I don't want to eat Meggie! Who's Meggie, anyway?"

Raziel gave her a sweet smile. "Who knows? His older sister, perhaps?" Analie screamed again and covered her ears.

"Raziel!", Meriah scolded. "Stop teasing your sister!"

"Pff…" Raziel shrugged again and took another apple from the basket. "You're no fun, mom. Besides…", he added once he saw his sister had taker her hands off her ears. "I bet she'll taste just wonderful!"

Analie squeaked and looked around for anything she could throw at her brother. Raziel only laughed and ran out of the house, his sister after him – without putting on her shoes, of course.

Meriah sighed again and smiled softly to herself, thinking about how much she loved her children and wondering what she would ever do without them.

-tbc-

July 30, 2003

I know, nothing interesting happened here, it wasn't planned like this anyway. The next part will be better, I hope… T_T

By the way, Aukrug and Kropp are real existent villages and their not even close to each other! ^^ Kropp is some kind of insider joke. A friend and I were there once, searching the house of Mirri's friend who had invited us. (We never found it.) And the whole village is full of metal-cows! They are standing everywhere and them make absolutely no sense! It's like a nightmare, aaaah! Can. Get. It . out. Of. My. Head! Cows everywhere! ^^


	4. Creeping Darkness

I know it had been a long time... *sigh* I tried and tried to write, but every time I found the time and got my lazy ass to sit down and write, I got sick. Something doesn't seem to want me continuing this… See, my head hurts again, all day. And when I started writing earlier it got so bad I could only lay down and wait! *shniff* But now I can bear it… So I'd better use the time I have, huh? ^^

Chapter IV: Creeping darkness 

By Kia

When the day ended and the shadows of the houses, the rocks, the few trees got longer until they were swallowed by darkness, a large fire was lit on the place in the centre of the village. The crowd of people gathering around it grew and many voices, laughter and music could be heard when the whole village celebrated the good harvest and the end of the hard work on the fields. Utterly oblivious to the creatures lurking in the shadows, hungry but patient, waiting.

The night fell fast in the lower mountains.

***

Despite her words from earlier Analie ate plenty of Meggy, the cow. Which was no surprise for she indeed tasted very good.

Raziel had just left his place at the long wooden table to fill his own plate for the second time. For this festival every household had to donate some food and there always was more than enough for everyone.

Coming from a rather poor family this was one of the parts Raziel enjoyed most about this day.

At the food table he once again saw Kurin and Tar, talking about vampires. Kurin never seemed to talk about anything else.

This time he didn't even try to hide the fact that he was listening and the men didn't seem to mind, so caught up in their conversation they were.

"Say, Kurin", he spoke after a while, when his fathers old friend paused for a second in his speech, giving him the opportunity to pose a question that had been running through his mind for quite some time already. "If you are into vampire hunting so much, then why didn't you ever join the Serafan?"

To his surprise Kurin laughed softly, instead of changing the topic.

"I could have done that. A friend of mine even did, years ago. But…" he shrugged. "They are a bit too religious for my taste. Beside, someone has to protect these small, outer villages as well, don't you think? They are too often forgotten in the big cities."

Raziel gave Kurin a perfect copy of his own shrug. Protect from what, he wondered. There wasn't anything to be protected from… not lately, and probably not in the near future.

"Why don't you join them later?" Kurin asked, only half joking.

The boy looked kind of unhappy.

"Ah, me? Never!" He grinned carefully. "I wouldn't make such a good warrior priest, ne?" Especially a priest. He shuddered. That just wasn't his piece of cake.

Kurin looked at him seriously. "Right", he nodded. "You're too small!" He winced when Raziel stepped on his foot.

***

Kurin had just turned to leave and walk over to the fire, where several couples were dancing to the music of the few people who could play an instrument without waking the dead, when he ran into Raziel's mother.

Meriah wore a long blue dress and her usually braided hair hug openly over her shoulder. Despite the thin lines of grief that got carved into her face after her husbands dead she still looked good. But right now the soft sadness that was usually hidden in her eyes was covered by anger.

"I thought you'd know better by now!" she growled at him when she stepped into his path. "You already tried to win Grum for your stupid hunting games, now you're trying the same with my son?" Kurin thought it fascinating how her eyes seemed to sparkle when she was angry. It also fascinated him how she could be so mad about nothing.

"I don't know what you heard of out talk…"

"Enough!"

"…but I can assure you that I never tried to talk Raziel into vampire hunting. Besides," he added softly, "I never succeeded in persuading Grum to join us." Maybe things would have been different if he had. He knew better that to say it out loud but it seemed that the woman could read the words in his eyes. Her mouth became a thin line when she pressed her lips together.

"I know." The words came out hard, unforgiving. Kurin knew she didn't truly blame him for Grum's dead, though somehow he himself did. She just needed some release for her bitterness, and she was afraid, afraid of loosing her son the same way she had lost her husband.

"It's useless, Kurin!" she now continued. "You are searching for a danger that's just not existing, and if it was there would be nothing _you_ could do about it. You will only die then – for nothing!" In the end the desperation in her voice won over the bitterness and the anger was lost somewhere along the way.

"Strange words for someone who had lost the one they loved to a vampire." Kurin said none the less and he was almost surprised about the softness in his voice, that wouldn't go along with his words.

Meriah's voice sounded as if she was about to cry, but her eyes were dry when she spoke.

"You don't understand! The vampires, they are… like an earthquake, or a hurricane. Things you can't do anything about. They are just existing and harmful and you can't even blame them for it!" Here eyes seemed huge in the flickering light of the fire, making her seem much younger than she was. "The one that came and killed my husband probably only got lost somehow. It was hungry and, like an animal, hunted down and killed the first prey it could get, before it left. It won't be happening again!" The last words she did almost scream. And Kurin looked into her eyes and saw how desperately she wanted it to be true. He couldn't say anything then. Couldn't say.

When he looked up he saw the table, and all the chatting and laughing people around it. He saw Raziel, staring at them from his seat. They were too far away for him to hear anything of their conversation over the noise, but he stared anyway, a frown on his youthful face. His sister, meanwhile, took the opportunity to steal food from his plate.

Then he looked at his best friend's wife again and, slowly and hesitating, rose a hand to touch her shoulder.

"Would you mind dancing with me?", he asked, and the question was meant as innocently as it sounded. "The music is quite good this year."

Meriah tried a faint smile. "I would only step onto your feet", she answered. "I haven't  danced in years."

"Neither have I", Kurin smiled and took her hand. 

***

She'd feel a bit cold and would go home quickly, to get a jacked, Runaris' daughter had said when she left, and the old man had only nodded and continued to play his guitar. But now, more than half an hour later, he became worried. Their house wasn't far away, yet she still hadn't returned. Only then did he notice how warm it was so close to the fire and his worry grew. If she was still cold then maybe she felt sick?

Ever since he had lost his wife to a deadly illness so many years ago Runaris was more than concerned whenever his precious daughter didn't feel well. And though he told himself that there was nothing to worry about it wasn't long until he excused himself to the other musicians and went home to look after her.

He took the shortest way home, the way they always took, through the small alleys between the old stone buildings that lead to the outer parts of the village. It was dark here, darker even than usual, because now most of the houses were empty and no light was lit inside to fall through the windows.

The noise of the crowd became quieter, but it was still reaching his ear when he spotted a lone figure lying motionless on the ground, between the walls of the houses, a few meters away.

"Lyss!", he cried out. "Lyss!" Despite the darkness surrounding them he knew it was her immediately. He just knew it. His old bones screamed when he fell to his knees beside her, but his own scream got stuck in the back of his throat, choking him when he turned her around and looked into her eyes, staring blindly up to the sky.

Her long blonde hair fell back over her shoulder and revealed two small wounds in her throat, but Runaris saw nothing of it. He started screaming for help, wishing for anybody to come and save his daughter until someone finally came and covered his mouth from behind. His hand felt cold. So cold.

Runaris turned his head and through the tears in his eyes he saw a familiar face looking down at him, shimmering ghostly white in the darkness.

"You…" he managed to choke out but he was answered only by silence and a sharp pain, when the other one yanked his head back and broke his neck.

-tbc-

Okay, again I didn't get as far with this chapter than I wanted to… The next time! I promise! ^^

And many thanks to everyone who reviewed! I love you! ^^


	5. One step closer

Yeah, here it is… This nice little chapter is, of course, in the end not even close to what I wanted it to be, but at least it is done, finally. Time to concentrate on the next one…

Chapter V: One step closer

By Kia

Of course it had been Kurin who first noticed the presence of vampires in their village. It had been a bad feeling he got, some kind of instinct, coming to life every time an undead creature was near, he would like to say, but in truth it had been a coincidence, simple as that.

Though, indeed, a bit of bad feeling had taken place in it. The bad feeling, that had made him take the dark way through the small alleys when he left the others to take a short walk around – not to look out for possible dangers but simply to get some cool air and silence and to watch the stars, for he knew that this night would be one of the last clear ones before the rainstorms of fall found their way back into the mountains. When he went back to the fire he wandered through the close spaces between the houses and there he found old Ruanris and his daughter, both dead, both drained of blood. It was there that he felt a cold hand close around his heart for despite all his words he never would have thought that this could happen, not here. Right then he thought nothing, just scrambled to his feet and started running back to the fire to warn the others, his boots barely touching the stones beneath them.

***

The nice part of the night ended the moment Kurin came running back to the place, drawing all attention to himself by screaming "Vampires!" and "Stay close to the fire!"

Had it been anyone else but him, maybe the whole village would have panicked this very moment. But they all knew of Kurin and his obsession with the bloodsucking undead and so he rose little more that curiosity in them. If he had finally lost his mind, they wondered, but deep inside they felt uneasy and nervous. For they all knew that Kurin was, after all, a reasonable man that would never run around screaming for nothing. So they gathered around him and hid their worries in weak jokes about his strange behaviour. They listened to his words when he told them about the old man and the woman in the alley and their jokes were silenced by their worry turning to fear.

"Take torches from the fire", Kurin commanded, suddenly turning into a leader without anyone protesting. "Run home to get your weapons, but only move in groups and be careful. The woman and children stay here by the fire, they won't come too close to it. At least ten or fifteen men should always stay here to protect them. The rest goes searching for them, but, keep in mind, we don't know how many they are."

They did as he told, left nervous and in groups while the woman stayed behind, fearfully gathering around the fire. Still they stayed remarkably quiet, not letting their fear take control over their actions. Not, at least, until someone in the crowd pointed at a rooftop nearby, screaming. Had it been the vampires intention to get the people away from the fire by showing itself so obvious above them it had reached its goal. The moment they spotted him chaos broke loose and everyone seemed to try and get away. The few that didn't lose their head were hopeless in their attempt to keep the rest of them together. It didn't take more then half a minute for the guarded group to split up and get lost in the shadows where they were easy prey. The vampire vanished with them, apparently having got what it wanted and over the now almost deserted place ran scared people like headless chicken, men that tried to get them back together and a frightened woman, helplessly calling for her children that had been lost to the chaos.

***

When everyone suddenly started screaming and running around Raziel didn't even know what was going on for from his spot he couldn't see the creature on the roof. Analie, however, could and she, like everyone else, started to run away as fast as she could, screaming in a high pitched voice while she disappeared into the shadows before Raziel could stop her. He that ran after her without thinking, yelling at her to come back. She didn't hear and within all the panicking people they already were quite far from the fire when he finally caught her. But now the vampire was behind them, between them and the fire and so they kept running until they reached the outer part of the village, where the rocks began. They climbed between those, feeling safer now that the noise of the people disappeared into the distance.

Now they sat there under the starry sky and Analie clung to her brothers shoulders, fearfully listening out into the night. They hardly dared to breath and yet neither of them noticed the man walking up to them until he stood merely a few meters away. He looked at them calmly and seemed to know all to well that they could never escape, a tall man with dark unruly hair and board shoulders. Raziel could only stare at him and all thought were suddenly gone from his head but the one that this could not be happening that made him shake his head weakly, the only movement he was able to. 

Analie, when she looked up and saw him, made a small noise of surprise and scrambled to her feet. "Daddy!", she cried, as she ran towards him. "I always knew you'd come back to us!"

***

Something deep inside Raziel knew that this was wrong but his head was still empty and he could do nothing to stop his sister when she got out of his arm and ran over to their father… to what looked like their father but could not be it, for the dead never rose from their graves, and their father _was_ dead, and buried, years ago. So this could not be him, though he looked like him and moved like him and even was dressed like him. Wasn't there something Kurin once said, about the making of vampires…? The thought lingered somewhere in the back of his head but he could not grasp it, all he knew, when he saw his sister running away from him was that this was wrong, so very, very wrong. He wanted to hold her back but a silent "Wait" was all he could mutter and the word never reached even his own ears.

The vampires face showed mild surprise when he stared at the little girl so willingly coming to him, confusion but to the slightest hint of recognition. Not even when he got down on his knees to embrace the child that so happily threw its arms around his neck. Not even, when he opened his mouth and sunk his sharp teeth deep into his little daughters throat. 

That was the moment when all the thoughts suddenly returned to Raziel and the realisation of how completely he had failed to protect his sister. His hands closed around a long, pointed piece of rock lying around and he didn't even feel the sharp edges gutting into his own flesh.

Some distant part of him expected himself to scream when he saw Analie go limp in familiar strangers arms but he stayed silent and the world blurred around him as he got to his feet and ran up to the man like his sister before him, just faster, blind with pain and rage and a sharp rock clenched in his fist.

The fiercely of his attack seemed to surprise the vampire. It barely had the chance to look up when it heard him coming and before it could do anything Raziel threw himself at it and stabbed the rock into its chest without hesitation. The long claws of the creature slashed through his own flesh, but the boy felt nothing of it while he sat on top of the so much larger man and stabbed him again and again. 

And again.

-tbc-

October 05, 2003

Nyah, sorry it took me so long again! I had wanted to write this so much sooner, but there is always this gab between what I want to do and what I really do in the end… *sigh*

Again, many thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'm more than thankful for every comment! ^^ (Every comment that makes sense, anyway…)


	6. Aftermath

Finally got my lazy self to write this…

Chapter VI: Aftermath

By Kia

When Kurin looked back at this day later, in his memory it would mark the point where things really started to go wrong. But right now it simply seemed to him like a never ending nightmare, even after the last of the vampires was killed or chased away.

As far as they knew it had been six of them – six vampires, and they had killed all together four people from their village: An old man, two woman and a little girl.

Kurin would never forget the moment they found Analie, sweet little Analie who had just turned eight yesterday, lying motionless between the rocks, and her brother, bloodied and blind with rage, stabbing the already unmoving corpse that looked painfully like his father again and again with a _stone_… It had taken Kurin a surprisingly large amount of strength to clam the boy down and take the weapon from his hands, and after that Raziel has simply passed out, without even realising what was going on.

He would never forget the way Meriah had screamed when he told her of her daughter's death – her voice was still ringing in his ears, a tone of pain and despair it seemed only a mother could understand who had lost her child to the cruel forces of fate. But, somehow, the look she'd given him before had hurt even more – there had been something in her eyes that told him that she already knew what he was about to tell her and just begged him not to do it. He had not been able to meet her eyes when the last pieces of her hope were shattered by his words.

Years ago Kurin had heard somewhere that a mother would feel it when something happened to her children and maybe, he though now, it was true.

At this moment Meriah was at Tar's house where Tar's wife Hanna tired to clam her – Kurin was more than grateful for that, especially because he knew that the woman had also lost her sister this day. Tar himself was standing beside him now, and together they were staring at the corpses of this day's victims.

Runaris' head was twisted in an odd angle – his neck had been broken before his body was drained of blood. Kurin had known the old man for all his life, and though they weren't friends or anything like that he was used to seeing him around. Beside him lay his daughter Elyssa, not a young woman, anymore, but not yet old either. The two of them didn't leave any other relatives and for that Kurin was glad.

Reni, Hanna's younger sister, Kurin had known pretty well. They had basically grown up together and though they were never really close and used to argue a lot he felt a sharp, yet distant pain when he saw her lying there. It didn't seem right that she should lie here, among the others. It didn't seem right.

It didn't seem right that Analie should lie there, a girl that wasn't only painfully young but the daughter of a friend, someone he had known for all her life, for all those pathetically few years.

Kurin had to suppress his tears as he turned away and walked over to the corpses of the killed vampires.

***

There were three of them, all male. One had been killed by a garden fork, one by fire, and one by a stone. Tar watched silently as Kurin kneeled down beside the last one and couldn't help but wonder how small, thin Raziel had been able to do this.

Poor boy…

"It really is him…", he heard Kurin mumble, the first words he had spoken for a while. Tar looked closer – it was Grum's face under all that blood, no doubt, though the barman still could not believe it.

"How is that possible?", he  asked quietly, helpless. "He's been dead for years…"

Kurin shook his head without looking at him. "That's the point, isn't it? As far as I know," He took a deep breath. "the vampires somehow pull the deceased back from death and make them their kind, somehow."

"But… why did he do this, then? His own daughter…"

"Don't you get it?" For the first time Kurin looked at him, his voice shaking. "He didn't remember them. How many vampires, do you think, would happily run around killing people if they remembered who they were before?" He looked away again. "That's what I heard, at least."

Tar frowned. "You heard?", he repeated. "Does that mean you don't know for sure? With all your encounters with vampires?" Suddenly Kurin looked at him, angry.

"How was I supposed to know?", he snapped. "I've never met any vampire that once was my friend before!"

Silence. Then Tar sighed. "All right", he said. "I'm sorry." He knew that Kurin's anger wasn't directed towards him – it had been a long night and the younger man was just as emotionally stressed as everyone else and… Grum _had_ been his friend, after all...

His eyes wandered over to Analie's small form and Tar wondered what she might have thought and felt in those last moment's of her life. In the weak light of the new-born day her face showed no hint of pain, or fear, only mild surprise and wonder. She was a child, barely old enough the understand the concept of 'death'. How was she supposed to understand that her father wasn't her father anymore when he came back after five years of absence?

He wondered what Raziel must have thought. Whatever happened there, they really couldn't blame the boy for not acting sooner – he was only eleven after all. Did he even understand what was going on then?

"What are we going to do with those?" A new voice asked. Tar turned around and saw Hane, the village's only teacher, a small old man with barely any hair left on his head.

It took him a few seconds to realise that he'd been referring to the vampires.

"We're going to bury them, with the others", Tar said quietly. "They where also humans, once."

The old man apparently wanted to protest but before he could say a single word Kurin stood up.

"We are going to burn them", he said. "All of them."

Tar could only look at him in surprise. Hane gasped. "Are you out of your mind?", he hissed. "We can't burn them!"

"And why not?", Kurin snapped back.

"You know why! Their souls can't get to the next life if the body is destroyed!"

"Don't give my that religious shit!" Now Tar was really surprised, even worried. He had never, _ever_ seen Kurin get angry like this. Hane's face turned red but again Kurin was faster. "If we leave them like this their souls might get somewhere, namely back to those corpses. Do you want that?" His eyes threw daggers at the other man. "There isn't much difference between getting burned to ashes or getting eaten by the worms and bugs in the earth. The main difference is the probability of coming back!"

The old teacher seemed to search for an answer but Tar decided to stop him before he could find one. He was tired, worn out. He couldn't take a fight now.

"Let's talk about this later", he said, dragging both Kurin and Hane back to the other men standing around. "Now, we should take the… the corpses inside and go to sleep. We could take Raunris' house for them – nobody's living there anymore."

He sighed in relieve when neither of them protested. He didn't have the energy to deal with them anymore. And he wanted to go home. After all he had a wife to comfort as well.

***  
  


Meriah was already asleep when they arrived at Tar's house, but his wife was still awake, and though she apparently had stopped crying some time ago the tears started to flow again once she came to embrace her husband. Kurin left them alone and went to the small living room instead, where Raziel was sleeping on a couch.

He didn't look like someone who would kill a vampire without a real weapon, Kurin thought. He just looked like a little boy. Someone had threatened his wounds and covered him with a blanked. Kurin knew, as he sat down beside him, that the boy was not to blame for his sister's death. Little boys weren't supposed to attack and kill a much stronger vampire all alone. They weren't even supposed to survive meeting one. Raziel did survive it, instead of his sister he always tried to protect. Now he would have to life with it.

Grum's son didn't stir when Kurin reach out to gently brush some hair out of his face, and the man only sighed and closed his eyes, feeling tired.

-tbc-

January 03, 2004


	7. Fire

Sorry for the long wait and the short chapter. You can skip it if you want to, it's nothing important.

Chapter VII: Fire

Kurin stood in the background as the victims of the vampires got burned to ashes. He and Tar, they had managed to convince the majority of the people to give the bodies to the fire, so they might stay dead for eternity. In the end it hadn't been hard.

And yet he stayed in the shadows, behind the back of the people staring at the hungry flames in silence. Away from their looks, though he could not see why anyone would look at him. It wasn't his fault after all. Kurin knew that as well as everyone else, and yet he felt guilty.

Meriah stood in the line closest to the fire, staring at it with blank eyes as it took away the body of her little girl. She hadn't spoken since that fateful night, two days ago, and Kurin had stayed close to her, worried, though he never gained the courage to try and talk to her. Hanna stood next to her, occasionally glancing at her face, and Kurin knew that she and Tar would take care of the broken woman as long as necessary.

The other ones, the vampires they had managed to get and kill had been burned the day before, with only a few men present, Tar and Kurin among them, and old Hane to say a few prayers. The rest of the people shouldn't know that one of them had once lived in this village, a friend to many here. Looking at Meriah's back this moment, at her plain black dress and the long hair moving in the soft breeze, Kurin hoped that she would never find out.

Raziel was nowhere to be seen. Kurin had not seen much of him at all in the past two days and he had known better than to look for him. If that boy wanted to be alone now maybe they should let him, the man decided. After all he had a lot to deal with these days, and though Kurin knew that Meriah's son probably needed more than the mountains and his mothers silence to comfort him he wouldn't have known what to say.

Aukrug was a small village in the mountains, it's few fields on both sides surrounded by rocks and walls of stone. It was easy to climb up there if one knew how to do it and Raziel had often come here, to his favourite spot, to look at the village from above. It had been hard to keep Analie from following him whenever she caught him going. In the end he had promised her to take her with him once she turned ten years old.

She would have loved it. They had a fantastic view from here, over the village, the river, the fields. Even the stars seemed brighter here.

She would have loved it.

It was easy to make out the fire below. The people around it where little more than small spots in the darkness, but Raziel knew which of the spots his mother was, and he had also made out Kurin after a while, though he had not looked for him. Kurin was gone now. Raziel hadn't bothered to see where he went.

The ceremony seemed to go on for years. The boy knew that he should be down there now, on his mother's site, to say goodbye to his sister, but he couldn't bring himself to get down, and his mum probably wouldn't even notice – or care – weather he was there, or not.

In the end he could say goodbye to Analie from here as well. Better even that down there. Here he was closer to heaven.

The skin over his knuckles broke as his fist hit the rock in front of him. It was all he could do to keep himself from screaming.

The world blurred as hot tears filled his eyes, for the first time since that night, making him wonder – Did he even have the right to cry for his sister, after he had so badly failed to protect her? After all he had known, had _known_, that this creature wasn't their father anymore, could have been, and still he had done nothing to stop her from running to him. Not for the first time he wished the creature that looked like his father and moved liked his father and had once _been_ his father had killed him as well. But instead he had killed it, and now he couldn't help thinking if, perhaps, it somehow still had been his dad that fell victim to his blind rage.

Stupid thoughts, but he couldn't chase them away. In the end he swallowed and blinked his tears away.

The stars shimmered above the village, looking down sadly from the underside of heaven.

"Goodbye, Anie", he whispered. _'Goodbye, Dad'_, he wanted to add, but the words died on his tongue. He had said goodbye to his father five years ago; he didn't want to do it again.

Suddenly, footsteps behind him. He turned his head and saw Kurin coming down the narrow path that lead to his small plateau. His father's old friend said nothing but his face showed that he had expected to find him here. If this was the reason he came up here or if it was something else, Raziel couldn't tell, and didn't want to know.

For a moment Kurin's eyes stayed on the broken skin of his hands and for the first time Raziel felt the pain. But still Kurin said nothing, just sat down on a rock a few meters away, looking at him in silence.

The silence unnerved him. When he couldn't bear it anymore, the boy, who only wanted to be alone, asked quietly: "Why aren't you down there?"

It took some time for the man to answer. "Why aren't you?"

_'Because it's my fault Anie is dead'_, Raziel thought. _'Because I can't stand everyone staring at me. Because I killed my dad and mum will hate me if she ever find's out, even more than she already does.'_ He wanted to say it. The words lay on his tongue, but second after second ran away in silence. Suddenly all he wanted was someone to take him in their arms, some comfort. He was a child after all. He couldn't take it.

He couldn't take it.

But the words remained unsaid and Kurin didn't ask again. If he had maybe the boy could have found the voice to say it. But now they both remained silent and in the end Raziel just hung his head to look at the blood that ran over his injured fingers, dripping onto the cold stone below, drop by drop.

-tbc-

March 08, 2004

After two chapters with nothing happening the next one will hopefully have a plot again….


	8. Rain

Yes, I am not dead. But it took me a while to write this – I've moved out from home to study in a city 800 kilometres away since the last chapter, and I had a quite a lot to do. Lame excuse, I know.

By the way, since the last chapter about two years have passed in the story, which makes Raziel thirteen by now.

Chapter VIII: Rain

Rain was falling outside the window, for days already. The whole world seemed silent since then, as if waiting for that rain to stop. Even the children in the small room that serves as a school in the morning hours were quieter than usual, staring sightlessly out of the window instead of whispering to each other or drawing little pictures of boredom onto their sheets. Hane, the teacher, knew better than to believe that they would actually listen to him, but this was still better than the usual chatter. None the less he paused in his monologue to glare at the kids for one or two seconds. Many they where not – three girl and one boy were all that was left of his class, and one of the girls was almost seventeen now and would leave school soon, then the village, probably. Hane knew this village was dying out, but as least it would die out a little smarter – if those children were so kind as to listen to his words. Which they weren't. Of course.

"Mana, would you please tell us the reasons for the great Famine in this area one hundred years ago?" he asked one of the girls, fifteen years old and obviously very interested in the way the raindrops were running worn the windowpane. "It shouldn't be too hard, since I have talked about it just now.", Hane added. It was a lie – he had bee talking about the new trading law in the big cities, but he wanted to see if any of them had paid enough attention to notice.

Apparently no-one did. Mana was slightly blushing, looking embarrassed while the others giggled as if they'd know any better. Hane was just about to pass the question to Kelar, the boy, when the door opened and another boy entered, totally soaked by the rain and without bothering to knock or say anything. For a moment, all that was heard was the rain against the window.

Raziel glared at the old man for a second, as if daring him to say something, ask him why he was so late or where he had been the past week, but something also told Hane that this would not be a good idea, and so he decided to spare Kelar for now and move on with the topic as if nothing happened, while Raziel moved to his seat and sat down to stare out of the window.

o-

Two hours later Raziel was walking home, his travelling back thrown onto his back. He had walked straight to school after returning to the village, without even stopping at his family's house. It wasn't so much because he was afraid to miss anything important – from his point of view, their teacher didn't even know what 'important' meant – but because he wanted to avoid facing his mother as long as possible.

The past six days he had spend on the road to the cities in the south, or rather beside that road, in the woods, the swamp, looking for caves in the mountains. After "borrowing" one or two of Kurin's journals he knew where to look for vampires during the days and he usually found them. With almost two years of practice Raziel was actually quite skilled in the art of killing the undead, though he tended to use traps and trickery rather than direct force. Proud as he was of his success, Raziel was no fool. He knew that a heroic man-to-man battle with even a single vampire would have been a quiet short and probably very final experience.

The rain had totally soaked him again when he finally reached the small house at the edge of his village. The boy allowed himself a few seconds of hesitation before he pushed open the door and walked in.

This was not his lucky day. Hanna, Tar's wife, was inside, obviously just about to leave and she looked startled at the fact that someone dared to enter without bothering to knock on the door first. Her expression turned to surprise when she recognized him and was finally replaced by anger.

"So," she said. "There you are. Where have you been?" Hanna was known everywhere for her sweet temper and Raziel had never, ever seen her getting loud, but her voice had a very sharp edge to it now, as she was practically snapping at him. He was getting used to it

"Away," he shrugged.

The woman's face reddened. "Away", she repeated. "You can't just leave for days without telling anyone. How often do I have to repeat that? Are you even listening to me, young man?"

Raziel winced inwardly. He hated being called 'young man', because when people said 'young man' they really meant 'little boy' – something he felt he wasn't anymore.

"I left a note," he said lamely. When his first disappearance, though rather short, had send half the village searching for him he had decided to always leave some sort of message when he left, to keep them from running around like headless chicken. Sometimes, though, he felt that his effort was not satisfyingly appreciated.

Hanna's voice turned a little softer when she said: "People tend to get worried about you when you just leave like that." She didn't say 'Your mother gets worried', which would have been an useless and painful lie, and for that Raziel was grateful. His mother probably hadn't even noticed he was gone at all. She wouldn't notice if he didn't return.

"Is she okay?" he asked, looking at the door to his parents bedroom, where his mother had spend most of the past two years, dreaming and talking to people who weren't there, slowly slipping away from reality more and more with each passing day.

"As okay as she was a week ago", Hanna sighed. After the death of Raziel's sister she had taken up the task of caring for her old friend. She also tired to care for her son, but most of the time that was a pointless job. Right now she was looking him up and down, checking for possible injuries, and her expression froze. Raziel followed her gaze and noted the bloodstains on his shirt. Funny, with the dark clothes being all wet he hadn't thought anyone would notice.

Shrugging, he went past her to look for his mother, but at the door he stopped, and he felt his lips twist into a cold grin as he turned around to face her.

"Don't worry", he said. "It isn't mine."

tbc-

March 13, 2005

Still not much progress with the plot…(sigh)


End file.
